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The tropical storms stirred things up off the Carolina coast last week, but it didn’t slow the action for puppy drum and speckled trout near Oregon Inlet. Capt. Reese Stecher continues to put his clients on limits or near limits of specks and pups. The striper bite is on as well.
Says Capt. Stecher, “We targeted stripers this morning. We landed approximately 40. Most were caught on live bait but a few were caught on fly rods (they brought their own). We ended up with two keeper fish over 18 inches. The rest were 15 to 17-1/2 inches in length.”
Call Capt. Stecher at (252) 449-0232 and set up a trip while the fishing is on fire.
Virginia Saltwater
The speckled trout fishing is picking up and fish are now showing on the Poquoson Flats and in most Eastern Shore bayside inlets.
Flounder catches have been good in the Chesapeake. The flatfish are currently on the move to deeper waters. Flounder are being taken inside Lynnhaven and Rudee inlets, but the larger fish are around wrecks along the coast. Anglers fishing the wrecks are also picking up some triggerfish.
Yellow-belly spot are starting to show around the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, Ocean View and in the inlets. If the early part of the season is any indication, this should be a banner year. Bluefish are abundant throughout the area. Shark action has been outstanding.
The Chesapeake Bay striped bass season is now open and there are plenty of school-sized fish available.
Virginia pier action includes croaker, small spot, sea mullet, small flounder and a few small gray trout. Piers anglers can expect a few cobia and red drum.
Offshore the white marlin season draws to a close, but anglers fishing over night will be taking some swordfish. There’s some warm water just east of the canyon and some tuna, wahoo and dolphin could remain where warmer waters are found. Deep droppers will find plenty of tilefish. The sea bass season is closed until Oct. 22.
Hatteras Surf
It was a little windy on Tuesday. The north side of the Point produced some small Puppy Drum and Bluefish. The south beaches had small Pompano and Sea Mullet. Dee Goldman weighed in a 4-7 Speckle Trout caught on the sound side. She caught her limit.
It was a pretty day Wednesday and the winds started to die out. The Point had some Puppy Drum and Bluefish that morning and evening anglers beached some slot Puppy Drum and some bigger. South of 55, there were some nice Puppy Drum reported with scattered Bluefish and Sea Mullet up and down the beaches. The sound has produced some nice Speckle Trout catches.
Hatteras Offshore
On Wednesday, there was a lot of Drum action inshore and reports of good Speckled Trout fishing as well. A handful of charters fished offshore and returned with some nice Wahoo, a few Dolphin, and a few Blackfin Tuna. Bottom fishing was good. Chris Martin of Chesapeake had a 68-pound Wahoo citation while fishing aboard the Tuna Duck.
